


17th of Wyvern Moon

by ttacticianmagician



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Birthday, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Some angst, sorry i couldn't help myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 14:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21076475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ttacticianmagician/pseuds/ttacticianmagician
Summary: Ashe's birthday is today, but he doesn't think much of it. The other Blue Lions seek to remedy that.





	17th of Wyvern Moon

**Author's Note:**

> It's still 10/17 over here so this fic is on time yaaaay. I actually didn't care much for Ashe before I started my BL playthrough but he grew on me. Also my sister S-supported him in her game so I felt obligated to write this. But of course, my ideas spiral out of control and I end up writing a lot more than I intended. Happy birthday to one baby boy!

Ashe was never one for birthdays. Then again, he never had much reason to celebrate his own.

The last birthday he spent with his parents was when he turned 7. His mom and dad invited all of the village kids into their restaurant and crafted scrumptious food for them all to enjoy, including a giant cake that made even the wealthier children jealous. He remembered the cheers as he blew out the candles, the laughs as they played games, and especially the gifts. Ashe didn’t actually get many special presents, just some clothes and toys, but one gift that stood out in his memory was a training bow from his father. Receiving it meant that he was expected to learn how to use it to protect his family. And once he mastered it, he was one step closer to becoming a man. Excited at the prospect of being treated like an adult, Ashe trained with it vigilantly until he could shoot down apples that still hung from trees by his next birthday. This ended up being a valuable skill to have, as his parents fell ill shortly before he turned 8 and couldn’t hold a lavish party like last year. Then they passed away a week after that and Ashe turned from sniping fruit to sniping bandits that would had preyed on him or his siblings. He hardly had the time nor money to spend on any birthdays anymore. Birthdays went from a day of celebration to another hallmark of a year survived.

The last birthday he spent with Christophe was when he turned 13. Ashe thought that his parents threw spectacular parties, but that was before he met Lord Lonato. He spared no expense when the day came, hiring chefs who rivalled Ashe’s parents and musicians that filled the halls with wondrous music. Some of the guests were simply noble acquaintances of Lord Lonato and he didn’t really know them that well. But Ashe was able to invite childhood friends from his old village too. They got up to their old tricks almost immediately, chasing each other through stony corridors instead of grassy fields, dancing to refined compositions instead of folk songs, and stuffing their faces on cake created by the house chef. When the time for presents arrived, he received more clothes and toys, but also fancy trinkets and books of all sorts. Again he had a favorite gift, this time from his stepbrother. Christophe gave him an elegantly woven cloak, made from Gautier wool, lightly enchanted to always keep the wearer warm and repel dust and water. Embroidered on the back was the coat of arms of House Gaspard. It was the sort of item knights would wear not only to stay comfortable but also to proudly proclaim their allegiance. Receiving it meant that Ashe was considered a real member of the household, not just a thief that stumbled into their good graces. He treasured it and wore it often, feeling like a true knight when he swung his sword in the training grounds or went on long rides in a nearby forest. He only hung it up when Christophe was executed a month later and he couldn’t bear to be reminded of him anymore.

The last birthday he spent with Lord Lonato was when he turned 16. The parties grew less lavish overtime due to his stepfather’s grief over his son’s death but they were still considerably more grand than the birthdays spent on the streets. As Ashe was on the cusp of adulthood, Lord Lonato opted to give him a more traditional gift this year. The young man opened up an ornate wooden box to reveal an even more ornate dagger with the symbol of House Gaspard engraved on its hilt. Daggers were commonly bestowed upon Faerghus children when they reach 16 years of age, representing their need to start cutting off the ties to their parents and to start cutting their own path. Along with the dagger, his stepfather also gave him some words of advice.

“Don’t become one of those dogs of the Church when you attend Garreg Mach next year.”

Reflecting back on it, Ashe wondered if he could have stopped Lord Lonato from rebelling if he had known the meaning of those words. But no, the signs of his unease stretched further back, when he was still enthralled by his life as a noble’s son. He still had the dagger, which was tucked away in the furthest recesses of his closet. If a church member found it, he was worried that he might be labelled a heretic as well.

So when he woke up on the 17th morning of the Wyvern Moon, Imperial Year 1180, he didn’t think much about the date. Ashe was actually more concerned with the upcoming Battle of the Eagle and Lion. The mock battle was on everyone’s lips when they chatted in between classes and in everyone’s mind as they fought in the training grounds. With so much buzz around it, he felt pressured to push himself even more so that he wouldn’t be an embarrassment to his class.

But it seemed like others didn’t feel that way, judging by the absences in his class. Not only was Dimitri gone due to some Kingdom business, Professor Byleth was also missing. Seteth ended up filling in as the Blue Lion’s teacher for the day. When asked as to why Byleth wasn’t here, he stated that she had important matters to attend to and refused to elaborate further. The way he skirted around the question seemed fishy to Ashe. But he couldn’t think about it more, as today’s lesson was particularly hard, no thanks to Seteth’s stricter teaching style.

During his lunch break, when he did have time to think upon it, he also realized that the other students were acting suspicious. They didn’t seem perturbed at all by Dimitri’s and Byleth’s vanishing act. They instead whispered about subjects unknown. When he approached them to find out more, they either stopped talking or switched topics. Ashe at first assumed that maybe he did something wrong. Maybe they were secretly laughing behind his back at his incorrect response to one of Seteth’s questions. But no. Some of these whisperers weren’t the kind of people to gossip like that. For instance, Annette and Mercedes were always so nice to him and never spoke ill of anyone. And Felix and Ingrid were too serious to stoop to that kind of behavior.

There must be something else going on. Ashe kept his eyes and ears open for further clues but it seemed like the more he tried to eavesdrop, the more furtive his friends became. He eventually gave up and powered through the rest of his lessons. After classes were done for the day, he wandered over to the dining hall for a quick snack. But before he could even open the doors, Sylvain popped up out of no where and gave him a hearty smile.

“Hey Ashe!” He practically shouted. “Did you want to spar with me? Prepare for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion some more?”

“Uh…” He blinked twice at his proposal. Sylvain was the class slacker and would rather chase after women than spend time at the training grounds. So why did he ask him for a spar all of the sudden? Especially when Ashe was an archer and Sylvain was more suited at close-ranged combat.

He glanced through the windows of the dining hall. There wasn’t anyone inside except Mercedes and Dedue. Both of them were in the kitchen, but their backs blocked whatever they were up to. And Sylvain sidled over between him and the window, preventing him from spying on them more. 

“What? Are you hungry? I got some candy if you want some.”

“Uhh. I shouldn’t eat candy before sparring.” Although Sylvain was acting strange, Ashe forced himself to sound calm. He didn’t have any reason to assume the worst from him.

“So you do want to spar with me? Great! Let’s go!”

“Huh?” 

Sylvain took Ashe by the hand and dragged him to the training grounds before he could properly respond. They ended up fighting each other for the next hour or so. Ashe decided to hone his skills with the axe instead of the bow this time around. Even though he was an archer, he wanted to be able to fend for himself if an enemy should close in on him. And he was actually pretty decent with the axe. He was at least able to not crumple before Sylvain, who deftly wielded axes before Ashe had even thought of picking one up. If he could last several rounds with his classmate without defeat, then he called that a win in his book.

“Whew. Thanks for that, Sylvain.” Ashe wiped off some sweat with a towel. He still wasn’t any closer to knowing the reason behind his classmate’s sudden request but he didn’t mind. This was a productive hour for him.

“No problem.” The redhead beamed just as a shadow fell over him. When the two of them glanced up, they spotted the shadow of a winged horse and her rider in the sky. Ingrid was practicing lance techniques on pegasus back and it looked like she was having great success. The way she maneuvered her weapon was both graceful and powerful, like a hypnotic dance of death. Ashe and Sylvain watched her train until she spotted them on the ground moments later. She was too far away to hear, but she made her message clear by waving her lance around. Whatever message that was.

“Say, Ashe?” Sylvain spoke up as Ingrid darted away. “I’m feeling hungry now. Do you wanna grab something to eat?”

“Sure?” There was that nagging feeling of suspicion again. Ashe found it odd that he suddenly changed his tune after seeing Ingrid. And when he replayed that scene in his mind, he saw that Ingrid flew off towards the dining hall. Maybe Sylvain was making up an excuse to go find her? Except whenever Sylvain and Ingrid interacted, they always seemed to end up in an argument over girls or training or something else. So Ashe anticipated that he would have to act as their mediator again as he followed Sylvain out of the training grounds. 

He was wrong. When they flung open the doors to the dining hall, Ingrid wasn’t the only other Blue Lion present. Annette and Mercedes flung confetti over Ashe as he entered. Dedue was standing next to a table covered in dishes of food. And Felix was off to the side, although the expression on his face indicated that he wasn’t entirely unpleased to be here.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHE!” Everyone but Felix shouted.

“What?! What’s this?”

“It’s a birthday party! Don’t tell me you never had one!” Ingrid exclaimed.

“Oh no I had those before. It’s just…”

Ashe couldn’t possibly tell them that he had forgotten about his birthday. Firstly, that would reflect poorly on him. Secondly, he didn’t really forget. He just pushed it to the back of his mind because he had other things to worry about. And because the people he loved seemed to die shortly after a birthday.

“It’s just nothing! Forget about whatever has your brow furrowed and have a seat!” Annette grabbed his arm and dragged him to the table of food. Now that he had gotten over his initial shock, he was able to study the plates laid out in front of him. There was a giant bowl of spicy fish and turnip stew, an equally large bowl filled with vegetable pasta salad, a silver platter with a roasted pheasant drizzled with a rich red berry sauce, and a heaping basket of sugar crusted buns. All his favorite foods. He wondered how his friends knew about his preferences, but they spent so many meals together, it would be more surprising if they haven’t figured anything out. 

“Awww you guys. This is- This is way too much food for all of us.” Ashe shook his head. There were only seven people here, and there was enough food here to serve at least ten. Sure he worked up an appetite from training, but there was no way he could eat enough to avoid waste.

“Don’t worry about it.” Mercedes gave him a reassuring smile. “There will be other people joining us here shortly. So just relax and enjoy the food that Dedue made.”

“You made this?” He looked up at the the stoic man with amazed eyes. He couldn’t believe that this was all made by a friend. Food this amazing belonged in a fancy restaurant or on rich noble’s table. Not for a commoner like him.

“Mercedes and Annette helped as well. But yes. This is for your birthday.”

“And Felix too! He has a mean knife game, although he won’t admit it. Those veggies never stood a chance!”

The aforementioned swordsman just scoffed at Annette’s comment. But at least he didn’t make any snide remarks to ruin the mood. He instead turned his attention towards Sylvain and Ingrid.

“You two were supposed to bring the others here. Where are they?”

“Well I had to distract Ashe from the dining hall while you guys were cooking. So that’s all on Ingrid.”

“And they haven’t shown up yet.” Ingrid stated with a furrowed brow. “Otherwise I would have brought them here by now.”

“So why did you bring Ashe in early?”

“Because… the food was done for a while and I didn’t want him to eat a cold birthday dinner.” Ingrid blurted out that last sentence so quickly, Ashe almost didn’t catch what she said.

“Wait, who else is supposed to come?” He asked.

“Dimitri and the professor and uhhhh-” Sylvain’s tongue was about to slip but Felix’s harsh glare stopped it in time.

“If His Highness hasn’t arrived yet, we should look for them.” Dedue spoke up suddenly. “Something might have happened.”

“But the professor also said that we can still start the party even if they couldn’t make it in time.” Mercedes countered.

“You guys know why the professor and His Highness are gone?” All this bickering didn’t exactly soothe Ashe. From how nervous they sounded, he immediately assumed that Byleth and Dimitri were up to something dangerous. And if they were doing this for his birthday… Ashe immediately thought of what happened to his parents, Christophe, Lord Lonato-

“We do. But that’s not what’s important now. They said we can go on without them, so let’s dig in already!”

Annette forced him and the others to sit down at the table. When she somehow managed to push the mountain of muscles that was Dedue into his seat, the Blue Lions got the hint and helped themselves to the feast. Their uneasy arguments eventually gave way to mirthful chatter and laughter. Ashe stayed mindful of the absent guests and tried to leave food for them. But Dedue’s and Mercedes’s cooking was just so delectable and his friends encouraged him to take as much as he wanted. He couldn’t stop himself from stuffing his face. The only thing that made him pause was the enormous birthday cake that Mercedes brought out from the kitchen. It was a layered white cake with fruit filling, smothered in whipped cream frosting and adorned with delicate flowers and the Blue Lions insignia. On top of the cake were the scrawled words “Happy Birthday Ashe!” written in blue frosting.

“I made this for you!” Mercedes proudly announced as she placed the cake on the table.

“Wow! Thank you! It looks beautiful!” It was almost too beautiful to eat in Ashe’s opinion. His attention was drawn to the Blue Lions logo in particular. He wasn’t sure how it looked so perfect, but he suspected that it was made of fondant.

“It’s gonna taste delicious too!” Annette handed Ashe a knife to cut the cake with. He regretfully sliced into it and carved out enough pieces for everyone present plus extra. When he took a bite, his taste buds exploded with sugary joy. The mild sweetness of the cake was complemented by the creaminess of the frosting that was further punctuated by the tart fruit filling. It was almost as good as the cake his parents made. No. Just as good. Maybe even better. Because it was made by his friends. That though and the sheer deliciousness of the cake moved him to tears.

“Ashe? Are you alright?” Dedue spotted the moisture in his eyes.

“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just so good.” He mumbled in between bites.

“Man, if you’re already tearing up from Mercedes’s present, then you’re going to be bawling your eyes out when you reach ours.” Sylvain grinned.

“Yeah! Save the rest of your tears for mine at least!” Annette pouted.

“Presents?” The word sounded foreign to Ashe at first. But when the Blue Lions reached behind the kitchen counter and pulled out boxes of various shapes and sizes, the meaning suddenly registered in his mind. He shook his head wildly and protested when the gifts were piled in front of him.

“Awww no. You shouldn’t have. You didn’t need to go out of your way like this.”

“Don’t say that!” Ingrid snapped with a smile. “You’re a Blue Lion like the rest of us. So of course we need to give you gifts for your birthday!”

“That’s a poor way of saying thank you.” Felix muttered. Was that a rare joke out of him?

“Oh. Thank you.” Ashe said both gratefully and apologetically. “Thank you guys so much. This is really all a surprise to me, so I don’t know what to say except thank you!”

“How about you open mine first?” Annette gave him a cloth bag tied with a ribbon. When Ashe opened it up, he found a shiny light blue rock with a rune carved into it. A silver wire was wrapped around it in an intricate manner and from that wire dangled crystal beads, a small metal lion charm, and a dark blue tassel.

“Wow! Did you make this, Annette?”

“Sure did! It’s an enchanted charm that will keep ghosts and other spirits away!”

“Uh, you know about that?” Ashe thought that he kept his fear of the supernatural a well-guarded secret.

“Know about what? I just thought you might like this.”

“Oh. Uh, thank you! I really appreciate this!”

The next present he unwrapped was from Ingrid. She gifted him a book titled ‘Loog and the Sword of the Lake’. It wasn’t a story that Ashe had read before, which was quite a feat because he devoured any and all tales of King Loog that he could get his hands on. The book was rather hefty and embellished with gorgeous illustrations on the cover and inside. This must have cost a fortune, something that Ingrid was known to not have. When he asked her about it in the most polite way he could, she shook her head.

“It’s an old copy from my father’s library. I’ve already read it many times so I have no need for it. It’s one of my favorite stories, so I hope that you’ll tell me what you think of it!”

“I will! Thank you so much Ingrid!”

Felix gave him a magnificent silver bow and a quiver of equally powerful silver-tipped arrows. And after he gently stroked it and poured over its every detail, Ashe noticed that it wasn’t an ordinary silver bow. It had been reforged by the monastery blacksmith for greater durability and finesse. Sylvain apparently planned his present with Felix because he gave him a jar of maintenance oil and polish to go along with it. His present was just as appreciated as Felix’s because Ashe’s current stuff wouldn’t have kept this expensive weapon in tip top shape. When he thanked them both, Sylvain returned the gratitude with a smile while Felix muttered something about proving his thanks by being useful in battle.

By now, the sun had set. Although Ashe was delighted in all the gifts, his thoughts turned back to the missing professor and prince. Their absence was made more conspicuous by the lack of their gifts and the remaining food left out for them. Surely whatever they were up to shouldn’t have taken the entire day, right? The others were growing antsy as well, and their conversations couldn’t help but turn back to that somber topic. Annette tried to cheer everyone up by suggesting a game they could play, but her efforts were interrupted by a loud slam of the dining hall doors.

“Sorry for our tardiness.” Dimitri wheezed. It sounded like he had sprinted from wherever he came from. “We ran into some… difficulties on the road.”

“It was just a Demonic Beast.” Byleth said cooly. Both were covered in dust and dirt, with the professor also sporting some blood stains that hopefully weren’t her own. But they didn’t seem to care about their hygiene at the moment. Their eyes lit up when they spotted a stunned Ashe sitting at the table of food, surrounded by presents and shredded paper.

“Oh. I see you’ve already started?”

“Yes Your Highness. Apologies, but the food couldn’t wait any longer.” Dedue bowed deeply.

“It’s quite alright. Missing a party is nothing compared to what we journeyed for.”

“And what is that?” 

“ASHE!”

His question was answered by a pair of childish screams. Two kids ran into the dining hall and embraced him in the biggest hug their small arms could muster. One child was a young girl with short black hair, half of which was tied up in a ponytail. The other boy was barely a teenager, sporting light silver hair that was styled similarly to Ashe’s. The two of them held onto him so tightly, he could barely squeak out his next words.

“Oliver? Elma? How?”

“Dimitri and Miss Byleth brought us here!” The boy, Oliver, replied back. He backed off to give his brother room to breath, although his sister still hung on.

“You what?” Ashe was at a loss for words. It felt like he was dreaming, even though his siblings were right there. They were supposed to be at Castle Gaspard, well protected from the monsters, bandits, and vicious politics that lurked outside. To think that the prince of Faerghus and his beloved professor risked their lives to escort them to Garreg Mach? Just for his birthday? He should have been furious. But instead, his tears started flowing freely again.

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be 17? You can’t cry like a baby anymore!” Oliver playfully punched his shoulder.

“And how would a 14 year old know that?” Ashe wiped away some of his tears with his sleeve.

“Ashe! Ashe!” Elma tugged on his other sleeve. “You shoulda seen them! Miss Byleth was all ‘whoosh!’ with her glowy sword! And Dimitri was like ‘raaaawr!’”

“I did not sound like that.” Dimitri scoffed.

“I dunno. That was a pretty good impression of you, boar.” Felix sneered.

“I can’t thank you two enough.” Ashe stepped in before another argument brewed. “I can’t believe you went all the way to Castle Gaspard for them. That road is more dangerous now that the local militia has been, well.”

“It wasn’t supposed to take so long.” Dimitri responded. “Nor were we anticipating a fight. Still, it wasn’t anything the professor and I couldn’t handle.”

“Also, it was your siblings’ idea to come here.” Byleth pointed out. “They wanted to keep it a surprise because you would protest. But they were insistent on visiting for your birthday.”

“Your idea? Really? You guys are growing up without me!” Ashe patted his brother and sister on the head.

“Yeah! And before you know it, I’m going to be a student at Garreg Mach too! I’ll even be the leader of the Blue Lion house!” Oliver pumped a fist into the air.

“Don’t forget about me!”

“Heh. I feel like the school is in good hands with future students like these.” Sylvain smirked.

“Hey Ashe? Can we have some of the food?” Elma shifted her gaze from the birthday boy to the birthday dinner.

“Of course! Go ahead! You must be hungry after such a long trip.”

“I made sure to cook enough for everyone.” Dedue aimed his words at Dimitri and Byleth too.

As the two children gorged on the pheasant and stew and buns, Dimitri cleared his throat. “Well, I’m certain that you three have a lot of catching up to do. So we’ll leave you in peace.” He then turned to leave but was halted by Ashe’s sputtering.

“W-wait. You guys are like family too. And I want to spend the rest of the night with all of my family.”

“Ashe…”

“I’m serious. Please stay.”

“And tell us more stories about the academy!” Elma shouted through a full mouth.

“Please! I want to know all about the monsters you fought!” Oliver concurred.

The Blue Lions chuckled at the kids’ enthusiasm. Even the usually expressionless Dedue had a hint of a smile on his face. They all sat back down at the table to join the merriment and to regal the children with tales both far-fetched and true. 

Ashe watched the scene unfold with a content expression. He would have never imagined in a million years that today would end up like this. He thought that he would spend his birthday alone, but he ended up with the greatest present of all: his family and his friends. He was truly blessed to be wreathed in such love, and there was no way he could fully repay what they have done for him. All he could do now was not languish in memories of birthdays past, but to live in the moment and look forward to future celebrations to come.


End file.
